Thermal Imaging System for Disease Outbreak Detection

1. A thermal imaging system for disease outbreak detection, comprising: a central control unit comprising: a wireless connection device, a measurement processing unit, a prediction generating unit, and an alert output device; and a restricted thoroughfare that is an entry or exit to a population center and that restricts traffic of individuals of a measured population; an array of infrared detectors wirelessly connected to the central control unit, wherein the array of infrared detectors measures temperatures of the individuals in the measured population, wherein the array of infrared detectors is mounted stationary at the restricted thoroughfare to capture thermal images of a plurality of individuals of the measured population; at least one non-stationary thermal image camera mounted to a mobile support and wirelessly connected to the central control unit, wherein the non-stationary thermal image camera is configured to pan the restricted thoroughfare, wherein the at least one non-stationary thermal image camera is height adjustable to capture a face-on thermal image of a single individual of the measured population and configured such that the height of the at least one thermal imaging camera is adjusted to match a height of the single individual of the measured population at eye level when capturing a thermal image of the single individual of the measured population; an environmental observation system including a thermal imaging device to measure a temperature of the environment at the restricted thoroughfare and wirelessly connected to the central control unit; and wherein the central control unit: receives measured data comprising the temperatures of the plurality of individuals in the measured population via the wireless connection device, processes the temperatures using the measurement processing unit to form a measured population temperature distribution, generates a predicted population temperature distribution based on the temperature of the environment at the restricted thoroughfare with an artificial neural network using the prediction generating unit, compares the measured population temperature distribution to the predicted population temperature distribution to determine an outbreak condition, identifies any individuals having a fever, and issues an alert when the outbreak condition meets an alert criterion using the alert output device.

2. The thermal imaging system for disease outbreak detection of claim 1 , wherein the central control unit further comprises an environmental data collection unit which receives environmental data including the temperature of the environment at the restricted thoroughfare from the environmental observation system.

3. The thermal imaging system for disease outbreak detection of claim 1 , wherein the infrared detectors are connected to the central control unit via an internet connection.

4. The thermal imaging system for disease outbreak detection of claim 1 , further comprising an image processor which processes the thermal images so as to obtain the temperatures of the individuals in the measured population.

5. The thermal imaging system for disease outbreak detection of claim 1 , wherein the array of infrared detectors or the central control unit transmit thermal images to an external image processor, then the central control unit receives from the external image processor the temperatures of the individuals in the measured population.

6. The thermal imaging system for disease outbreak detection of claim 1 , wherein the system is capable of identifying and tracking the individuals in the measured population temperature distribution likely exhibiting a fever.

7. A method of detecting a fever-causing disease outbreak with the system of claim 1 , comprising: measuring the temperatures of the individuals the measured population using the array of infrared detectors; receiving via an internet connection the temperatures at the central control unit; processing the temperatures to form the measured population temperature distribution; generating the predicted population temperature distribution; comparing the measured population temperature distribution to the predicted population temperature distribution to determine an outbreak condition; and issuing an alert when the outbreak condition meets an alert criterion.

8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising identifying and tracking the individuals likely exhibiting a fever.